Thou Shalt Not Kill

by Anne Perry (Editor)

The greatest story ever told; the rise and fall of civilizations, empires, kings, despots, prophets and disciples; tales of love, betrayal, revenge, war, and disaster, the most fundamental and eternal myths and fables of Judeo-Christian society; the end of the world -the Bible has all of these. And now acclaimed mystery author Anne Perry has culled together an extraordinary list of writers—from Sharyn McCrumb, Carole Nelson Douglas, Robert Barnard, Marcia Talley, Susan Moody and Peter Lovesey to Sharan Newman, Nancy Pickard, Reginald Hill, Gillian Linscott, Simon Brett, and Peter Robinson—to contribute all new mystery and crime stories inspired by and based on these most ancient of biblical tales.

From Sampson and Delilah to David and Goliath; from Mount Sinai to the Last Supper, Thou Shalt Not Kill explores the stories of the bible as chilling expressions of the most basic instincts found in the Good Book. With fifteen unique and inspired twists on the traditional mystery story, Thou Shalt Not Kill is an inimitable edition to any library.

Genres: Mystery

284 pages, Hardcover

First published October 20, 2005

About the author

Anne Perry, born Juliet Hulme in England, lived in Scotland most of her life after serving five years in prison for murder (in New Zealand). A beloved mystery authoress, she is best known for her Thomas Pitt and William Monk series.

Her first novel, "The Cater Street Hangman", was published in 1979. Her works extend to several categories of genre fiction, including historical mysteries. Many of them feature recurring characters, most importantly Thomas Pitt and amnesiac private investigator William Monk, who first appeared in 1990, "The Face Of A Stranger".

Her story "Heroes," from the 1999 anthology Murder And Obsession, won the 2001 Edgar Award For Best Short Story. She was included as an entry in Ben Peek's Twenty-Six Lies / One Truth, a novel exploring the nature of truth in literature.

Series contributed to:
. Crime Through Time
. Perfectly Criminal
. Malice Domestic
. The World's Finest Mystery And Crime Stories
. Transgressions
. The Year's Finest Crime And Mystery Stories

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. It was ok. Didn't realize Anne Perry edited it until just now. It is an anthology and unless the editor is Ellen Datlow, I tend to ignore the editor info. Perry edited this work and contributed one story. None of the stories knocked my socks off. They weren't bad, but not good enough to recommend to others.

[Dale Safford · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first story "Cain Was Innocent" by the editor was very interesting and with many Biblical references, and the ending was a very clever twist. All the other stories were barely worth reading, and I thought I was wasting my time to read them! I love the Bible, and seek for it to apply to my daily living, and the rest of the stories, including another one by the editor for which I had high hopes, had the most vague relationship to the Bible. I would NOT recommend for anyone to read this book - just read the terrific first short story and then move on to something else!

[Kjsbreda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an anthology of mystery stories inspired by biblical and apocryphal stories -- Cain and Abel, the Exodus from Egypt, Lot in Sodom, David and Bathsheba, Judith and more. Some of the stories are very well-written and are surprisingly good. The collection, as a whole, is a bit uneven.

[Menno Beek · Rating 2 out of 5]

The idea of this book - detective stories, based on biblical themes - was fascinating enough to make me order this hard to find book second hand, from a small town library deep in the heartland of the US. If the book did not go through all this trouble to get to me, I might have dropped it after the first story: a heavenly police case of two experienced cops that decide to solve the Cain and Able case. Might work, such an idea, but it does not here.
There are a few good stories in the book, The Sister Fidelma story is probably the best, but most fail. This book will probably continue its journey in the local book case of our supermarket, where it might find the next reader. If its lucky it might be an American lost in Rotterdam, ready to take the book home to the US.

[Julie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the take on these scripture stories. As I try to liken the scriptures to our modern world and how they pertain, these authors nailed it. Plus as an added bonus I was introduced to many great authors.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like all short story collections, this has its ups and down. Some really had a biblical references, either in settings or characters. There are others, though good, have a very very slight relationship with the Bible, including the selection by Anne Perry herself.

[Barb Dudziec · Rating 3 out of 5]

The stories were mixed 1 or 2 good, 1 or 2 clunkers, most ok. At least I've ticked off an anthology for the Pop Sugar challenge!

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perry edits a collection of mysteries. Enjoyed some more than others. Didn't feel the connection for the collection.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

This whole anthology was very mediocre. None of the stories were truly bad. It was just that none of them were anything I couldn't have lived without reading.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favorite is the story of David and Bathsheba. But these are all very well done.

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Does not live up to its description. The only reason I stuck with it was because it was a book club selection.